I'm In
by sultrysweet
Summary: SQW Summer 2015 - Day 5: Best Friend Romance. Emma joins Operation Mongoose and bonds with Regina in the months that follow. The more time they spend together, the more Emma finds she likes about Regina and the words "I'm in" start to take on a deeper meaning.


**AN: A** **few days late. Sorry! Hopefully you still like it. Let me know what you think. Set between 4A and 4B.**

* * *

" _I like it. It's got style. I'm in," Emma said as she put a hand on Henry's shoulder and turned to Regina._

" _You are," Regina asked with disbelief while her eyes twinkled with hope._

" _I made you a promise I intend to keep. Everyone deserves a happy ending."_

 _Slowly, Regina's lips curled in a blinding smile wide enough it bared beautiful white teeth. Emma meant what she said. She was in this, but in that moment she didn't know just how committed she would be to Regina's happiness. And even when all the signs were there, it still wouldn't dawn on her how much weight rested in those two words. She didn't realize when she said, "I'm in" it would mean so much more than what she thought she was promising by joining Henry and Regina in their search for the Author, but she'd figure it out soon enough._

Operation Mongoose was a work in progress. Not much had been accomplished aside from Tipsy Tuedays and Fucked Up Fridays. That and falling asleep on the couch at the mansion on the nights when research, drinking and conversation extended past midnight. There were a few times Henry shook her awake the next morning when he found her. It was a little embarrassing and Emma wasn't too comfortable with the idea that Henry had the chance to see her passed out on the couch after a night of drinking, like she was one of the alcoholic foster parents she'd been stuck with growing up. Regina agreed she didn't like Henry walking in on that behavior even if Emma didn't always have a hangover or sleep next to the bottles the two of them emptied the night before.

"So I guess we should set a curfew for ourselves or something," Emma asked one night when she showed up for more research, no wine or whiskey with her that time. "I'll leave by eleven every night. And maybe we'll only drink one day out of the week instead of two."

"That's ridiculous," Regina replied. "We shouldn't have to stop everything just because it's better for Henry that he doesn't see you like that, and so often I might add. No, it's partly my fault either of you are in that position."

"Okay, but…what are we gonna do? I can't just keep crashing on the couch. I can try to wake up earlier and leave, but—"

"Or you can sleep in the perfectly good _guest room_ upstairs. It isn't just there for show. I have a lot of space in this house, space Henry and I don't take up or need. Someone should make use of it."

That was when Emma started sleeping over for more reasons than, "I was too drunk to even walk home." The bed in the guest room was so comfortable and luxurious and one of the best perks to staying there was that there wasn't a baby wailing in the middle of the night or the frequent opportunity to accidentally walk in on her mother breast feeding. Breast feeding was natural, Emma was a hundred percent in agreement on that, but seeing her own mother with her tit out was a bit much. She wanted to be close to her parents, but not _that_ close.

It wasn't long before Emma visited more than just on Tuesdays and Fridays. Soon it was overnight stays on Tuesday and after work on Wednesday she'd bring Regina a bottle of wine to thank her and replenish the stash she helped diminish the previous night. Some nights that meant that she stayed over on Wednesdays as well, but she was always back at the apartment on Thursday. She came back over to the house Friday night, which never changed no matter how many times she frequented the mansion during the week, and made herself comfortable.

The first two weeks she spent Friday night in the guest room, she tried to be out the door before 9am. Most of the time she left when Regina started a pot of coffee and asked Henry what he wanted for breakfast. On the third week she had a later night than usual with Regina. They'd spent at least eight-five percent of their time together in the last month and they were finally in a place where they both considered each other a friend so that third Friday they had more than just wine and got to talking.

"What's it like being with a man with a hook for a hand," Regina asked after two glasses of wine and a tequila shot Emma provided her when the blonde was tempted to ask more personal questions.

"Uh, like dating a guy with _two_ hands. He's human. It's the same."

"No, I mean like _being_ with him."

"Wh- Oh," Emma said when she figured out what Regina meant and then started to laugh. "I haven't- We haven't- There's no sex. None. I kiss him and we cuddle up either when I'm finishing up work or trying to get him to watch Netflix with me, but we don't do it."

"Why not," Regina asked with a crinkled brow.

"Because…" she trailed off and frowned as she thought about it. "You know, I really don't have an answer to that. I don't sleep with him because I don't sleep with him. I guess because I'm not in the mood?"

"Is that a question?"

"Sounded like it, didn't it," Emma laughed again. "He tries to flirt and sometimes I flirt back, but that's as far I go."

"Clearly not, otherwise we wouldn't have Henry."

Emma smiled at the use of the word "we." They'd been referring to Henry as "their son" for a while by that point, but the way Regina said it that night sounded different. It made them sound more like a family than any other time she'd said it and that made Emma happy.

"Oh, I meant that's as far as I go with Hook," she clarified. "You knew him in the Enchanted Forest. Did you ever want to sleep with him?"

"Well, I hit on him, but I never really wanted to sleep with him. There aren't many people I've slept with or been attracted to that I actually wanted to have sex with."

Emma frowned and stared at Regina for a moment. "That sounds awful."

Regina seemed to consider her words and then shook her head and dismissively waved a hand. "It sounds worse than it is. I just meant that sex hasn't really been a priority for me. It's an itch I scratch, but I don't really care for it."

"Then you're not sleeping with the right people," Emma said without thinking. When she looked over at Regina as she lifted a tumbler of whiskey to her mouth she saw the brunette down another shot of tequila with a frown and a morose look in those beautiful brown eyes. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to- I'm an idiot."

"I know," Regina said after her face relaxed when the burning of the tequila seemingly faded.

Emma flashed her a smile and grabbed the bottle of tequila before she picked up her own shot glass and filled it.

"I'll make you a deal," Emma said. "Every time I say something stupid, I'll take a shot."

"As long as you refrain from throwing up anywhere else but a trash can or toilet," Regina replied with a hint of a smirk. "I'm sure you'll need one of those before the night is over."

Emma's smile widened and she tipped back the shot.

"You're not wrong, though," Regina confessed. "Sex has never been amazing or tempting for me. It's been nice, but…"

"Oh, god. Nice? If that's how you describe sex, the other person isn't doing it right," Emma informed her. "Maybe that was another stupid thing to say, but Regina…have you ever had a lover that made sex about you and your needs?"

Regina opened her mouth, but closed it before she said anything. She gave it a little more thought before she answered, "There were a few times with…with Graham that were more about me than him."

Emma tried not to think about how Graham's "heart attack" wasn't really much of a heart attack. She didn't know what Regina had done, but she was pretty sure his death wasn't natural or an accident. But that was in the past and they weren't really talking about Graham. They were talking about Regina's sex life.

"Okay, but…what exactly does that mean?"

"I… He did mostly what I wanted. That was supposed to be the point. It wasn't always great and sometimes it didn't always go the way I thought it would, but that's normal. Right?"

Oh boy. She wasn't prepared for that conversation. She didn't know nearly enough about Regina's history to know what sex was "supposed" to be like in the Enchanted Forest because maybe they had different standards there, but Regina had asked a question and Emma was going to do her best to answer it. _Without_ saying anything stupid.

Needless to say that Emma handled that conversation with elegance neither women knew she had, but it was the only conversation she didn't fuck up. When Regina realized she was looking for answers and validation from _Emma Swan_ of all people, she quickly became uncomfortable with the whole thing and changed the subject. She didn't do that before Emma found out Robin wasn't all that great in bed, though—which Emma was slightly happy to hear about because she didn't really like the guy—but she wasn't sure she really needed to know he was the one person that having sex with was _nice_. Because with the knowledge that it was _nice_ came the knowledge that he was "gentle" and "mostly quiet," which Regina then explained was better than "loud and mewling like a dying animal. Not like your disgusting _grandfather_."

No, Regina hadn't changed the subject until all of that was out there. But it was okay. They were friends and friends got drunk and talked about bad sex. It was thankfully the last thing about sex they mentioned for the rest of the night and Emma had to down a few extra shots before she stumbled over the next few topics with her idiocy just so she could forget the gruesome picture Regina painted in her head of the mayor being subject to _the King_ —she would never see that man as her grandfather—groaning and _mewling_ "like a dying animal"—ew!—above Regina. Because he clearly hadn't cared that his second wife was basically a glorified babysitter only six years older than his overly beloved daughter.

But that nightmare was over. She took the shots of tequila necessary to help rid her mind of that image and then she took more shots because she lost her filter the longer they talked. And her filter was the only thing that helped her to _not_ make stupid decisions or it prolonged her foot-in-mouth syndrome so she could make through a conversation without wanting to hit herself for her thoughtless comments. And as usual Regina was right. She needed a toilet, or a trash can. She wasn't sure which was closer, but if she didn't run to one of those things she would break Regina's rule. Breaking Regina's one rule probably meant she wouldn't get to enjoy the guest room mattress much longer and Emma wasn't ready to give that up yet. She didn't think she'd _ever_ be ready to give that up.

When she woke up the next morning, she'd slept in later than usual and hadn't been able to leave before breakfast like most weekends. Regina surprisingly didn't seem to mind. She was actually welcomed into the kitchen with two smiles, one from Henry and the other from Regina, and she couldn't stop herself from mirroring their bright expressions.

"Henry wants French toast. Is that okay," Regina asked like Emma had stayed for breakfast at least a few times before and it was strange, but it also felt good. Really good.

"Uh, yeah," Emma answered and cautiously stepped up next to Henry at the island like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I made a full pot if you want some coffee. It's strong so you might want to add a little cream to it. There are some options in the refrigerator," Regina said as she busied herself with breakfast at the stove.

"Um, thanks," Emma said and looked at Henry for confirmation that it was okay and Regina wasn't just joking with her.

Henry rolled his eyes instead of telling her anything and then went to the fridge, opened it for her before he motioned to the door where apparently all the options were that Regina had mentioned.

"Help yourself," Henry finally said and Emma relaxed a little.

It was the first time she ate breakfast with both Henry and Regina and even though her head pounded despite the three pills she took, it was definitely a satisfying start to the day.

* * *

Her phone alarm went off at twenty minutes to one in the afternoon. She didn't normally have an alarm set for that time and she didn't normally take her break at that time, but Regina did. That was _if_ Regina decidedto take a break. Sometimes Emma would go into the mayor's office and see Regina hard at work, no evidence of leftovers in the place or finished food in the trash can beside her desk. Her face would be buried in whatever it was Regina had in front of her and Emma always knew she probably hadn't even looked up from her paperwork or anything else she worked on since she came to the office. As Regina's friend, she made it her duty to encourage the other woman to eat even when Regina refused over and over again. Even when Regina's course of action to prevent Emma from getting her to eat was to poof her out of the room. She did that at least three times a week if she was having trouble with Robin and the only reason Emma knew it was Robin's fault was because Regina always drunkenly apologized to her on nights that were supposed to be dedicated to Operation Mongoose.

One Saturday, on a week that hadn't been particularly good for Regina, Emma purposely didn't leave before breakfast. Even if she'd tried to leave before breakfast, Regina would have stopped her anyway. It had been almost a month since the first time she'd overslept and ate with them and every Saturday that followed meant free food for Emma, because she was welcome and wanted. That Saturday was different though because Emma made sure to get up before Regina, which Emma finally figured out two weeks ago the brunette didn't sleep past seven o'clock. So she'd set her phone to go off at a quarter to six and after a quick morning routine of brushing her teeth, pulling back her hair into a ponytail, and putting some pants on, she was in the kitchen making a full pot of coffee. The week before that she'd made sure to get down to the kitchen around the same time as Regina and watched how many scoops of coffee she dumped into the filter to know just how strong Regina liked it.

A few minutes after seven, Regina yawned and shuffled into the kitchen. She stopped in the entryway and stared at Emma with wide, shocked eyes.

"You're up," was Regina's greeting.

"Yeah, I was up this early last week too, remember," Emma rhetorically asked and smiled at her.

"Yes, you were up, but you weren't making…" Regina trailed off as her eyes looked over at the coffee pot, "coffee."

Emma shrugged. "I thought it'd be nice if you didn't have to worry about it this week. Maybe we can start switching off every other Saturday?"

They never planned for Emma to stay for breakfast every week, it was just an unspoken event that happened. Emma was almost as surprised as Regina to hear the words leave her mouth, but Emma liked how it sounded. She liked making plans and sharing responsibilities, even small ones like who would make the coffee in the morning.

"Okay," Regina agreed after a moment and then walked further into the kitchen.

"Great," Emma said before she turned toward the stove and started to look around at and inside the cupboards for cookware she could use. "Do I have to wait for Henry to get down here before we decide on breakfast or can I just make something and tell him he'll eat whatever his mother serves him?"

"Normally I wait for him. He doesn't sleep in much later than I do. But you don't need to make breakfast. I'll do it."

"You always do it," Emma said.

"It's _my_ house," Regina pointed out, not that Emma had forgotten she didn't even live there let alone own the place.

"Right. Well, I thought we could take turns like with the coffee. Whoever makes coffee makes breakfast. That makes sense, right?"

"It does, but- Do you even know how to cook?"

"Uh, you're the one that filled my head with memories of baby Henry and all his favorite meals. You kind of programed me to know how to cook."

"I don't remember doing any such thing. I gave you memories, not cooking lessons," Regina insisted. "Step away from the stove before you burn something."

Regina swatted Emma's hands away from the pan she'd set out on one of the electric burners and tried to nudge her out of the way.

"Red pepper flakes and an extra ounce of ricotta cheese than what the recipe calls for," Emma said.

"What," Regina asked as she turned to face the blonde.

"The 'secret' ingredients for your lasagna."

"Well, I told Leroy about the flakes and he's not known to keep his mouth shut. Like your mother."

"And the cheese? How could I know about that?"

"Henry."

Emma shook her head. "Even _he_ doesn't know that. He knows he likes your lasagna. He doesn't know what goes into it."

"An extra ounce isn't very specific. There are a lot of lasagna recipes."

" _Your_ recipe. The one that doesn't even list red pepper flakes as an ingredient. The one you copied from a cook book and then taste-tested over and over again until you were satisfied."

"Okay, so maybe I gave you memories of how to cook Henry his favorite meal, but that doesn't mean you won't burn down my kitchen."

"My chances are just as likely as you burning it down with a fireball whenever you get too excited or an intruder, who turns out to actually be our son coming home from visiting with his grandparents, walks through the door."

"That happened one time," Regina defended herself and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It still happened," Emma said with a smirk.

Regina huffed. "Fine, make breakfast. But _you_ can clean it up when you're done."

"Only if you can show me how to magic it all into the dishwasher," Emma countered with an even bigger smirk. Regina rolled her eyes and Emma amended, "I'll clean up the old fashioned way. Relax. Let me take care of this today. I owe you."

Henry's only breakfast request when he came down to the kitchen were eggs. He didn't care how they were made or which of his mothers made them. All that mattered was that he had eggs and that two sausage links found their way onto his plate.

Emma handled it. She made the eggs to Regina's preference since Henry didn't have one and cleaned up after herself before she even touched her own food. When she joined Henry and Regina at the dining room table, Henry had already scarfed down half of what was on his plate. Regina, on the other hand, hadn't had a single bite.

She sat down in her usual seat on the unoccupied side of Henry and was about to ask Regina why she hadn't eaten yet, but the answer to the unasked question seemed to be that Regina had waited for her. It was the only explanation she could think of when Regina started to eat almost as soon as Emma's ass hit the chair.

Emma smiled at the idea that Regina would wait for her.

"You should really get started on your food," Regina said between bites. "If you wait too long it'll get cold."

Emma's smile faded a little and she nodded, but she wasn't able to make the smile go away completely. In all honesty, she didn't want her smile to go anywhere. She was happy and she didn't mind if both Henry and Regina knew it.

* * *

The next Friday, Emma didn't bring any alcohol. Instead, she brought a smile and an overnight bag packed with two days' worth of clothes. They didn't drink that night or talk about finding the Author. They didn't talk about villains or storybooks or happy endings. Emma spent the first few minutes inside the house trying to convince Regina to watch Netflix with her.

"I thought this was something you only did with your boyfriend," Regina said even though she'd agreed to see what all the fuss was about over the streaming service.

"He still doesn't really understand the concept of movies yet. We're working on it," Emma answered, but part of what she said was a lie. She hadn't worked on anything with Hook since joining Operation Mongoose. He was low on her list of priorities, but no one else aside from her needed to know that.

They made themselves comfortable on the couch after Emma pulled her laptop out of her overnight bag. Within minutes, she started to navigate through the site and stopped on one of her favorites.

"What about Orange is the New Black," she asked.

"What the hell is that," Regina asked with a scrunched up face, her expression less than pleased with the title and short summary the site provided for the show.

"It's about a female prison. It's funny. I think you'll like Red the most."

"I don't want to watch a prison show."

"Oh, come on. It's barely even about prison really. It's more about the characters and the shit they go through. There's a lot to love about it."

She hadn't been able to watch many episodes lately. She couldn't play it at the apartment because she let Henry borrow her earbuds and he still hadn't given them back and with the amount of times her parents got up in the middle of the night they were bound to hear the sex scenes, even from downstairs. She wanted to avoid that awkward moment, especially since they would probably check on her despite the sounds they heard. And then there was Hook. Every time she tried to get him to watch Netflix with her, which wasn't all that often, she wanted to watch the show. He'd seen about half an episode before he started in with question after question.

" _Why's that lass doing those things with the other lass? Is this real? Are we watching real people do these things? Is this what people in this land call porn? How are we seeing this?"_

It was annoying.

"Fine. I don't have any other suggestions. It's not like I know what else is on this thing," Regina approved Emma's choice. "But how is it that you can watch a show about prison when you used to be in one?"

"Because it's not the same thing. Look, watch an episode and I think you'll get what I mean."

She didn't get what she meant. Three episodes in and Regina was even more confused about Emma's past than even Emma had been at the time she had lived through it.

"Did you do that? Did you have a prison wife? Or…girlfriend? Whatever they call themselves."

Those questions amused Emma. She even laughed at a few of them, but her favorite question was one that came after Emma had admitted to having slept with a few women when she got _out_ of prison.

"Did you like it?"

Emma laughed at that one, too. Regina almost looked horrified at that reaction and Emma shook her head as she continued to smile at Regina. She moved the laptop off her lap and onto the coffee table in the living room before she grabbed the blanket draped over the back of the couch.

"Yeah, Regina, I liked it," she finally answered the other woman.

"Why is that so funny," Regina asked and Emma pulled the blanket over both of them.

"I'm just not used to people asking me that."

"So you were laughing at _me_ ," Regina stated and narrowed her eyes, not happy about that inference.

"No, I… It's an unusual question so it threw me off guard a little. Sorry." And then Emma remembered all the questions about sex Regina had asked her that first week they'd started drinking together. "Oh."

Regina furrowed a brow and repeated her. "Oh? Oh what?"

"Have you…have you ever slept with a woman?"

"I wouldn't have asked if you liked it if I had, would I?"

"I guess not. It's just- I thought you and Maleficent—"

"Why would you think that?"

"The way you kept saying your 'old friend' and that she wouldn't want to see you when you sent me down there to, uh, kill her for the True Love potion. It sounded like there was a lot of history there."

"Yes, there was history. Does history always mean 'I had sex with them' in your experience?"

"Not always. I'm sorry. Again. I shouldn't have assumed."

Regina sighed and tugged the blanket up to her chin before she admitted, "We kissed once. Well, a couple of times. That was it though. She was…intoxicating."

Emma's eyebrows shot toward her hairline as she stared at Regina and didn't blink even once for at least a full minute. The way the word "intoxicating" rolled off Regina's tongue and past her lips sent a shiver down Emma's spine.

Regina turned to her and saw her surprised expression. "What," the brunette asked, clearly not aware of how mind blowing that information—which was learned while they were both completely sober—was.

"Nothing, I- …You cease to amaze me, Regina Mills."

Regina smiled and wiggled around on the couch to make herself more comfortable before she placed her head on Emma's shoulder to watch the rest of the episode that had been playing throughout their conversation.

Emma relaxed when Regina's head was on her shoulder and before she knew it, she was asleep with Regina curled up against her side. The next morning was a sort of rude awakening when Henry found them in a slightly more compromising position.

Regina was on her back with her head against a throw pillow that was propped up on the arm of the couch. Emma's cheek was pressed to the brunette's chest, above her breasts so it wasn't entirely scarring or weird, and her hips snuggly rested between Regina's thighs. One of Regina's legs was pressed into the cushion on the back of the couch. The brunette's knee was slightly bent and her calve was practically wrapped around Emma's hip as they both tried to compensate for the limited space they had with their questionable position.

Henry shook Emma's shoulder, gently at first and then roughly when she didn't respond, and both women moved in sync with Henry's shaking due to the fact that there were all but glued together.

"I'm hungry," he said when both of their eyes blearily popped open within a moment of each other. "I also want to know if you're actually _trying_ to scar me for life or if this stuff just keeps happening, because I think it's something I should probably talk about with Archie."

He went into another room and she and Regina were left alone to absorb the events of last night as they slowly, very slowly, started to clear the cobwebs of sleep and wake up fully.

Emma propped herself up on her forearms on either side of Regina and stared down at her for a few seconds before she gave the other woman a warm smile.

"Hi," she said with a hint of a blush on her cheeks.

"Hi," Regina repeated with a small smile of her own. "I think it's your weekend to make breakfast."

"I made it last Saturday."

"Yes, but you also fell asleep on top of me last night so I think I deserve to be pampered."

"Fair point. At least I know you can still breathe down there. I'm glad I didn't suffocate you."

"Take any longer to get off me and you just might. I don't normally like it when people lay on me."

It wasn't said as a joke. It was the truth and Emma saw it in her eyes as much as she heard it in the brunette's voice. It all came back to the first night they drank together. The King had often been on top and she was trapped underneath his weight and breath and his terrible sex sounds.

"Noted," Emma said and peeled herself off of Regina and the couch before she made them pancakes.

When they finished breakfast, Emma realized it was afternoon already. She wasn't sure how long she and Regina had stayed up the night before or when Henry had woken them up, but it was after one after the pancakes were devoured, the dishes were cleaned, and the coffee was consumed.

"Well, I guess I should be leaving," Emma said.

"I should probably get the grocery shopping done," Regina replied.

"Oh, you do that on Saturday?"

"Yes."

"Every Saturday?"

"If I don't have something else more pressing to do."

"Well, uh, maybe I can go with you. In case you need an extra hand?"

"I…I guess that would be okay. It'd be nice. All Henry does to help is try to sneak all his favorite junk foods into the cart when he thinks I'm not looking."

Emma chuckled and somewhat proudly said, "That's my kid."

"Indeed."

* * *

Throughout the next week, Emma texted Regina at the end of every shift to ask if she needed anything. When Regina said no Emma would ask if she _wanted_ anything and most of the time Regina pretended she didn't have any requests. But Emma always knew how to get the truth out of her, one way or another.

 _Regina, tell me now if you want something. I'll go all the way across town and get it for you, but you only have five minutes to make up your mind._

 _-March 15 6:50pm_

 **Chocolate.**

 **-March 15, 6:51pm**

 _A bar of chocolate? Chocolate syrup? Baker's chocolate?_

 _-March 15 6:51pm_

 **Bar. Bring a lot. And some cookies from the bakery section. Some ice cream too please? Rocky Road.**

 **-March 15, 6:52pm**

 _Damn. Anything else, your Majesty?_

 _-March 15 6:53pm_

 **I need it, Emma.**

 **-March 15, 6:53pm**

 _If you say so._

 _-March 15, 6:53pm_

 **I don't think you want me to tell you why.**

 **-March 15, 6:59pm**

 _I think maybe you should. I'm curious to know why I'm buying all this stuff._

 _-March 15, 7:05pm_

 **I'm CRAVING it.**

 **-March 15, 7:07pm**

 _I think that's obvious._

 _-March 15, 7:08pm_

 **You're an idiot. It's that time of month.**

 **-March 15, 7:09pm**

 _Ohhhh. Okay. I'll be over soon._

 _-March 15, 7:11pm_

[-]

 _Want anything?_

 _-March 19, 6:32pm_

 **Ginger ale.**

 **-March 19, 6:34pm**

 _Everything okay?_

 _-March 19, 6:34pm_

 **Upset stomach.**

 **-March 19, 6:35pm**

 _You or Henry?_

 _-March 19, 6:36pm_

 **Me.**

 **-March 19, 6:38pm**

 _Is it bad? Do you need me there now?_

 _-March 19, 6:38pm_

 **I'll wait.**

 **-March 19, 6:39pm**

 _I'm downstairs._

 _-March 19, 6:57pm_

[-]

 _I'm getting root beer. Should I grab a 2 liter for the house or just two bottles?_

 _-March 21, 7:06pm_

 **Liter. Henry wants some.**

 **-March 21, 7:08pm**

 _Got it. Be there soon._

 _-March 21, 7:08pm_

[-]

 _Netflix tonight?_

 _-March 24, 6:58pm_

 **Orange is the New Black?**

 **-March 24, 6:59pm**

 _You like it! I knew I'd get you to like it._

 _-March 24, 7:01pm_

 **It's intriguing. And funny.**

 **-March 24, 7:02pm**

 _Told you. ;)_

 _-March 24, 7:02pm_

 **Just bring the laptop and get over here.**

 **-March 24, 7:03pm**

 **Oh, and some wine? We're out.**

 **-March 24, 7:03pm**

 _Will do._

 _-March 24, 7:06pm_

Emma showed up that night with her laptop, overnight bag, and a bottle of red wine. It was one of Regina's favorites and Emma spent a good chunk of her paycheck on it, but in the past few weeks she hadn't had to pay for the wine so she figured the expense was due. Really, it didn't matter if she'd bought wine for them recently or not. If Regina asked for wine she'd get it and only the best as long as Emma's bank account allowed it.

Regina had dinner waiting when Emma arrived and the smell was mouthwatering as soon as the brunette opened the door.

"Wouldn't it just be easier if you left a few outfits here," Regina asked as she looked at Emma's overnight bag.

"Uh, yeah, it would be easier, but then I'd have to have a drawer and—"

"There's a dresser in the guest room. Use all the drawers if you want," Regina said with a casual wave of her hand like it was no big deal.

"Okay. But…you're kind of dating Robin, right?"

"What does Robin have to do with you keeping clothes here?"

"Well, you don't think it'd be weird that your boyfriend could come over one night and my clothes are in the guest room?"

"No. There's more than one guest room and if he came over, he'd either leave after dinner or he'd spend the night. He wouldn't sleep in the guest room, but if for any reason he did he wouldn't stay in your room."

" _My_ room?"

"Emma, you're over here almost every night. You're hardly a guest anymore and that's the only room you stay in. It's yours."

"But… Okay, you do realize how that sounds, right?"

Regina furrowed her brow and shook her head a moment later. "No. How does that sound?"

"If I have a room here…and I start putting clothes in the dresser, doesn't that mean I kind of _live_ here?"

Regina's eyes widened the tiniest bit. There it was, the realization.

"Robin doesn't have to know."

Emma's eyebrows rose to her hairline. That was not what she expected Regina to say.

"That is, if you're okay with it being your room," Regina quickly said after Emma just stared at her in shock.

"Uh, yeah. I guess. It's…kind of been my room for a while now, right? Why should it bother me or make me feel uncomfortable?" Because she was a _huge_ commitment-phobe, that was why. It was fine when she just stayed over a few nights, even if during the last week she ran out of clothes and had to run back to the apartment after work to grab some because she'd stayed over that many nights in a row. It was fine when they didn't talk about how often Emma was at the house. It was fine when she felt more comfortable and settled in than she'd ever felt anywhere else, but as soon as Regina put it out there in the universe that Emma was basically one step away from moving in with her best friend she was a terrified mess.

"Are you okay," Regina asked and pressed the back of her hand to Emma's forehead.

 _I probably look like I'm about to pass out_ , Emma thought. _She's checking for a temperature!_

"I'm fine. Fine. Netflix?" She nearly jumped into the house like someone was throwing firecrackers at her feet and dropped her bag by the table in the foyer just outside of the living room, her laptop safely in hand along with the wine.

The rest of the night Emma was tense. They barely talked and Regina seemed uncomfortable about the lack of conversation because Emma knew she looked very noticeably bothered. She still stayed the night, but she did _not_ put her clothes in the drawers. That went a little too far for Emma's liking and she needed time to think, to breathe.

And she was so worried about what it would look like to Robin that she hadn't even thought about what it would look like to Hook. Hook, who was supposed to be _her_ boyfriend. Except she'd blown him off the last couple of months. He hung around at the diner since he didn't have a ship to live on and occasionally he'd make his way into the apartment because there were a few times she showed up and he was talking with her parents at the small kitchen table. It was weird. But it wasn't _supposed_ to be weird. He was her boyfriend. He was supposed to get along with the parents unless her only reason for dating him was to piss them off and she was way past that part of the teenage rebellious stage so that wasn't the problem. No, the problem was her. She didn't like him as much as she led him to believe. She didn't like him as much as she thought she did, or had she just convinced herself she liked him enough to date him? She wasn't even sure anymore.

All she knew was it was over. It had been over for a while and Hook needed to know that, too.

* * *

The night she finally did break up with Hook, she ended up on Regina's doorstep with her overnight bag. It was stuffed with clothes, more than a few outfits, and the seams were visible as they threatened to burst at any moment. She had her laptop inside with all her hygiene products and a small selection of DVDs she relied on during her bad and rainy days.

Regina didn't say a word when she opened the door and let Emma in. It was the first time in all of their friendship that Regina hadn't needed her to show up. It was the first time in all of their friendship that Emma needed Regina.

"I'm so used to doing this alone, _being_ alone. I know I have my parents now, but…I haven't… It's not like I've dated a lot of people since I came here. So I don't really break up with people, you know? And they kind of like Hook. They talked to him more than I did and we were supposed to be dating. The way they looked at me, Regina. It's like they were disappointed. My mom even asked me why I'm holding myself back from happiness when it's right in front of me!"

Regina listened to her rant and complain about the end of a barely cared for relationship. She said all the right things at the right time and she never asked to do anything else like watch a movie or go to bed or read a book. She just let Emma get everything out of her system until finally Emma started to talk about her reaction to having a drawer, a dresser, a _room_.

"It's so stupid," she said and didn't even realize she'd leaned into Regina on the couch. "I've basically already been living here and I kind of freaked out because you actually _said it_."

"You lived with your mother before the curse broke."

"Yeah, because _you_ kicked me out of Granny's and I needed a place to stay. She had a room and she was nice and she bailed me out of jail because she trusted me after meeting me _one time_."

"Okay, but you still weren't used to having anyone then, right? And she was a friend to you before you broke the curse. What's the difference between then and now?"

"The difference is we have Henry."

"That's a valid point. But it would make things so much easier if we didn't have to swap weeks or months or whatever arrangement we finally come up with. Not if you just stayed here."

"Yeah, for that reason it'd be easier."

" _That_ reason? Why wouldn't it be easier in general?"

Emma just stared at her for a long moment before she said, "Nothing. It _would_ be easier in general. I'm just being difficult and making up excuses." It was a lie and for a moment, Regina seemed to know that. She just as quickly moved past it as she had looked slightly suspicious that Emma wasn't telling her everything.

That night, she put all the clothes in her overnight bag in a single drawer in the guest room. It had been her plan since she showed up at Regina's door despite her resistance to move in. After the talk she had with her parents about breaking up with Hook, she didn't want to be around them for a while and Regina had already extended the invitation so it made sense. It wasn't like she could get a room at Granny's. Hook stayed there and he was one of the people she wanted to avoid.

She punched her pillow before she rested her head on it and struggled to sleep. The following morning she woke up with red rimmed, bloodshot eyes and felt physically weak due to exhaustion.

* * *

Robin was in New York with Marian and Roland. Regina was crushed that she'd lost her soulmate, but Emma slept in the guest room every night after the brunette had sent them over the town line to start living their happily ever after as a family. Emma didn't know how it was she helped, but she knew Regina hadn't spent the week eating her feelings and crying into a gallon of ice cream. She was upset the first few days, but Emma came over an hour early from work every day and helped with dinner. She watched Netflix with Regina when Henry went to bed and even did a little karaoke with her to a bunch of breakup songs. Emma then made Regina promise that the karaoke bit never left the house.

"Tell no one," Emma had said and Regina had laughed as she nodded and agreed.

By the end of the week, they were back to watching movies on the couch. They were some of Emma's most cherished DVDs, however, so they used the TV instead of the laptop and invited Henry to watch at least the first one with them. As soon as he went to bed, they started to talk.

"I don't know if I ever thanked you for this week, but…thank you," Regina said as she crossed her legs under her on the couch. She shivered and Emma instinctively wrapped the blanket always kept on the back of the couch around her. Regina smiled at her before she looked up the movie again.

"Whatever you need, Regina. I'm here," Emma said and pulled Regina into her side without a second thought.

Regina was still a little tense, stiff against her side and unwilling to rest her head on Emma's shoulder. Emma was okay with whatever Regina wanted. Part of her was only being so affectionate with the brunette because she figured it was the kind of attention Regina needed. Emma was typically a 'don't touch me' person and worked things out on her own, but it was moments with Regina and Henry that reminded her how good it felt to welcome someone's embrace during her lowest lows.

"You're doing enough," Regina said a few moments later.

Emma was a little confused as to the context of the woman's words and turned her head to look at Regina.

"What you're doing," Regina looked back at her. "It's enough. _More_ than enough. You've been a really good friend. The best."

Emma should have been stung by the word "friend," but she wasn't. She knew that was what they were despite all the time she'd spent with Regina and learned so much more about someone she'd started to like as more than a friend. She wanted to kiss away Regina's tears and hold her hand through the pain. She wanted to be there always, even when she wasn't really needed. She wanted to watch Henry grow up and stand right beside Regina as she did. She was still afraid to settle down, but she'd stayed in Storybrooke longer than anywhere else, even counting the year she spent in New York to escape Pan's curse. She could do it. She could commit and she could stay put and she could have more than a drawer in the mansion. If Regina wanted her. If Regina only asked.

"Emma?"

Emma turned and saw Regina's eyes, full of concern as they stared at her.

"What are you thinking about," Regina asked after a moment. Emma kind of wanted to tell her, wanted to admit why she thought it would be difficult to move in with Regina, or at least have a room and dresser that was hers even on nights she didn't spend at the house, but she couldn't. Could she? Regina didn't need someone after her heart. Regina needed a friend. She'd just lost Robin. She didn't need Emma professing feelings that so closely resembled love. Hell, she was almost a hundred percent sure that was exactly what it was. She'd fallen for Regina and she wasn't sure when it had happened.

Regina tucked a finger under her chin and lifted her head so their eyes locked. Emma hadn't even realized she'd dipped her head and averted her gaze.

"Talk to me," Regina gently insisted.

Emma took a deep breath and she almost wanted to cry because she was about to get deep. She was going to be intimate with Regina in a way she wasn't with most people because she was going to open up to the other woman. She _wanted_ to open up to her. That was rare.

"For someone so afraid of getting comfortable, settling down, making connections, getting close, being committed to something, I seem to be doing a _lot_ of that here. With you." Emma laughed at her idiocy when she made another realization and added, "Let's face it. I've been committed to _you_ since I joined Operation Mongoose."

Regina's lips slowly parted and her eyes flickered with a hint of understanding. It was as though she was tracking Emma's train of thought as Emma told her everything.

"Regina…when I said I'm in, I meant it."

Regina took a deep breath and nodded. "I know."

"Right, but…I meant I'm in this, with you, for everything. All of it. Henry, the town, good or bad, being…friends."

Emma looked at her with so much hope. _Don't you dare break my fucking heart_ , she thought.

"Wha- What are you saying," Regina asked.

"I'm saying that I'm always going to be here. I'm always going to be your friend. I'm always going to come over whenever you ask me to or whenever I think you need me, even if you say you don't want me around. I'm always going to give you a shoulder to lean on. I'm always going to back you up. I'm always going to tell Robin Hood to _fuck off_ for ever thinking he could choose you second and that doing it was okay.

"Regina, these last few months with you I've learned so much. I know that you scrunch up your nose every time something doesn't taste right and I know you run your fingers through Henry's hair whenever he smiles at you or needs your help. I know you like your coffee strong. Three scoops for every five cups of water and you don't like to use creamer. Cream is fine, but you barely touch it and you never add sugar. You get the most expensive brands because they're a good brew and you want only the best, and you should!

"You are so unbelievably incredible and so damn strong. You have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met and no matter how much you hurt you always get back up. You're beautifully resilient like that. I admire you. And even if you don't ever see yourself, or me, in all the ways I see you, I'm here. I'm not running. There is _nothing_ you could say or do to make me leave."

They stared at each other for a long moment, neither of them saying anything else. Regina's fingers ghosted over her jawline and slowly made their way up to her cheek. The touch was barely there, tender and light as a feather. The brunette's breathing was a little ragged and when she took a deep breath—or was it a gasp—it was stilted as if she was fighting back tears.

Regina shook her head and Emma frowned, afraid Regina was going to reject her, but the frown disappeared as soon as the brunette leaned in and kissed her.

The touch of their lips was delicate but so full of emotion. It wasn't desperate or needy. It was gentle and slow and Emma couldn't get enough. She snaked her hands under the blanket around Regina and wrapped her arms around the other woman's waist. She pulled the brunette close and kissed her again and again.

It wasn't long before the kisses intensified and before Emma knew what she was doing, she eased Regina onto her back on the couch. She pushed open the blanket and slid her body against Regina's, rolled her hips into place between Regina's legs before she slipped a leg over one of Regina's and straddled it.

Regina quietly moaned and raised her leg just enough to brush it against the inseam of Emma's jeans over her sex.

Emma pulled away from the kiss as she gasped and then groaned before she gently nipped at Regina's bottom lip. She pulled and sucked at the woman's lip for a moment before she resumed their kisses, slow but fiery. It wasn't until she moaned and pressed her hands into the cushions on either side of Regina's body that she realized their position.

"Oh. Shit! Sorry," Emma said as she pulled back to give Regina some room. "I didn't really think about it. You're pinned down there. Sorry."

Emma then tried to flip them, but instead fell onto her side on the floor.

Regina chuckled and rolled onto her side to get a better look at Emma on the floor. She rested her chin on the cushion and smiled at the blonde.

"It was okay," Regina confessed. "I was fine."

"So I just bruised my hip for nothing?"

"Well, I wouldn't say nothing. You were very considerate. Not a lot of people have been. It means something to me."

Emma smiled up at her before she propped herself up on her elbow. "Why don't you come down and we can start this over?"

"Or we can go to my bedroom," Regina suggested.

"But…Henry."

"Are you incapable of being a quiet lover," Regina asked with a sparkle of amusement in her eyes.

"I _can_ be, but I don't want to be. And I don't want you to have to hold back either."

"Then it's a good thing I'm a powerful sorceress and know a soundproofing spell that might help."

Emma thought about it for a moment even though her mind had been made up as soon as she heard 'soundproof.' "That works."

With a flick of the wrist, Regina poofed them into her room. Emma wobbled for a few seconds like a baby giraffe learning how to stand on its own and walk.

"Whoa. Okay. For future reference, it'd be nice to warn me before you do that."

Regina smiled and with another flick of her wrist, purple magic slid up the walls from floor to ceiling like a thin film, but it disappeared as soon as it pooled together in the center of the ceiling.

"Was that the spell?"

"Yes. Now no one can hear you scream," Regina joked with a grin.

"Oh, you're that confident you can make me scream? I can get loud, Regina, but I've _never_ screamed."

"There's a first time for everything," Regina said and her tone of voice was like a blasé shrug of the shoulders.

"Isn't this your first time with a woman?"

Regina's confidence immediately faltered and Emma quickly closed the space between them.

"Hey, I didn't mean it as an insult or a way to knock you down a peg or whatever," Emma assured her and rubbed her hands up and down the brunette's arms.

"Yes, well, it _is_ my first time with a woman. You're right about that."

Emma stepped a little closer and smiled big and bright. "I bet you can still make me scream regardless. The way you use those hands for magic… I've got to tell you that makes a girl like me very turned on."

Regina looked up at her, met her eyes, and she slowly formed a smirk. "I might not have pleasured another woman with these hands, but I'm still _very_ good with them."

"I have no doubt."

Regina took initiative and shoved Emma toward the bed. When Emma's knees hit the edge of it, Regina peeled off her shirt before she crashed their lips together for a heated kiss. Emma moaned into Regina's mouth and slid her tongue along the woman's bottom lip. Regina parted her lips and granted her access almost immediately.

Emma sat down on the foot of the bed and placed her hands on Regina's hips. She pulled the other woman between her legs before she ran her hands up the brunette's sides and lifted her shirt in the process. She broke away from the kiss and dipped her head to pepper the exposed skin between Regina's pants and the hem of her shirt with kisses and it drove Regina wild.

Regina braced herself with her hands on Emma's shoulders and curled her fingers, dug her nails in, when Emma teased just the right place in just the right way.

"Emma," Regina breathed out with obvious need before she hunched over, her chest pressed lightly against the top of Emma's head as one of her hands moved from the younger woman's shoulder and threaded its way into blonde hair.

Emma fell back and hit the bed. She brought Regina with her and let go of the woman's shirt before she started to unbutton it. She pulled it away from Regina's body and the brunette shrugged it off her shoulders before she leaned in and kissed Emma. Both women remained in their pants and bras, but Emma started to undo Regina's almost as soon as she'd finished removing Regina's shirt.

Regina whimpered when Emma pushed her hands inside her pants and tried to slide them down her hips and thighs. Emma stopped her movements and turned her head to break the kiss.

"Is this okay," she asked, a little breathless. "We can stop if you changed your mind."

Regina shook her head. "It was… It was a good sound. I'm okay. Keep going."

"Are you sure? I'm the first woman you're going to have sex with," she reminded her, because it was necessary for Regina to hear it out loud how big a moment it could be for her to go through with what they were doing. "If you don't want it to be me—"

"I want it to be you," Regina didn't hesitate to tell her while her eyes stared straight into Emma's. "Stop thinking about this like it's my first time ever, keep going, and don't stop."

"Okay," Emma breathed out and pushed Regina's pants down to her knees.

Regina lifted her knees off the bed long enough for Emma to kick the pants down her calves before Regina slid her feet out of them and knocked them to the floor.

Emma pulled her down for a kiss and ran her fingers along the waistband of Regina's panties before she moved her hand up Regina's stomach and cupped a breast through a black lace bra.

Regina moaned and straddled one of Emma's thighs. She slid her sex up Emma's jeans from the blonde's knee to the apex of her legs and bit down on Emma's pulse point.

Emma groaned and went to undo her jeans, but stopped herself when she remembered it wasn't about her. Regina set the pace and the rules and if she wanted Emma to keep her jeans on and wait before she could feel the pleasure of skin on skin, Emma would wait. Because yes, Regina had had sex before, but it wasn't good sex and whatever Regina did with others in bed was rarely for her benefit.

Emma ran her thumb over Regina's nipple through the lace of her bra and Regina ground down on Emma's leg before she slid her panty-covered sex back down to Emma's knee and then up again toward her hip. Emma hummed and gave Regina more access to her neck as she turned her head and tipped it back to expose more skin.

"What do you need," Emma asked and brought a hand down to Regina's pelvic bone. She pressed the heel of her palm against Regina ever so slightly above the woman's clit.

"Lower," Regina said after she stopped kissing Emma's neck, but her lips brushed against Emma's heated skin as she spoke. "Fingers."

Emma slid her hand lower and pressed her fingertips to Regina's hood. "Like that?"

"Uhn, yes. Little lower."

"Panties on or off?"

" everything off."

Emma tugged Regina's panties down her thighs and when Regina started to roll onto her back, Emma kept her on her knees above herself.

"Wait," Emma said and unclasped Regina's bra. "Okay."

Regina rolled onto her back and Emma pulled Regina's panties completely off before she then removed her bra.

"Touch me," Regina demanded with a hint of pleading in her tone.

"Do you need to be on top?"

Regina shook her head and grabbed Emma's wrist as she wrapped her legs around Emma's waist and pulled her close. She guided Emma's hand back to her clit and only let go when the blonde's fingers pressed against the bundle of nerves.

Emma teasingly ran her fingertips over the nub, up and down and along the sides. It was a light and explorative touch to see what Regina responded to. She squirmed with every movement, but her breath hitched on downward strokes and whenever Emma swooped her finger in a half-circle.

"Emma Swan," Regina hissed. "If you don't stop teasing me I will _end_ you."

Emma chuckled and leaned down as she applied more pressure to Regina's clit. Her hair splayed out over and tickled Regina's stomach as she brought her mouth down to a bare nipple and flicked her tongue over it before she sucked it into her mouth. She started to rub slow, wide circles over Regina's clit and only picked up her pace, tightened up the circles, when Regina started to pant and arch her breasts into the blonde's face.

Regina moaned, loud and drawn out, and grabbed a fistful of Emma's hair. Emma slid a hand up to Regina's neglected breast and circled around her nipple with her fingertips the same way she rubbed circles over the woman's clit.

"More. Harder. Teeth," Regina breathlessly demanded.

Emma ran the pad of her thumb over Regina's nipple and scraped her teeth gently over the nipple in her mouth while she pressed down harder on Regina's clit. The breathy sounds Regina made in response were like the dinging of the bell on a slot machine. All sevens.

Regina started to twitch and buck. Emma slipped her fingers through slick folds and teased her entrance.

"Yes," Regina shouted. "There."

Emma slid a single finger into Regina to which she heard a symphony of "hnns", unhs", and "nnfs" in response. She added a second finger and kissed her way down Regina's body until her mouth replaced her fingers on Regina's clit.

"Oh god. Emma. _Emma_!" Regina clamped her legs tighter around Emma's body and her walls tensed and fluttered against Emma's fingers.

Emma moaned for several seconds against Regina's clit as she sucked and licked. Her fingers moved inside the other woman slow and deep. She sped up pace just a little when Regina started to buck wildly against her for more, faster.

In an instant, every muscle in Regina's body tensed around Emma and Emma was left with a tingling sensation before she opened her eyes and saw wisps of purple smoke dissipate around her. Then she felt her bare sex on Regina's sheets as her clit throbbed and demanded attention.

"Again," Regina said even though she still hadn't fully recovered from the first orgasm yet.

"Uh, do you always use magic when you climax?"

Regina's eyes shot open instantly as Emma felt her relax and come down from her high. She met Emma's gaze, her expression giving away her surprise.

"I used magic?"

Emma nodded. "I am completely naked right now. I wasn't a minute ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know I was going to do that. I can try- We should stop."

"Regina, it's okay," Emma smiled at her. "I don't mind. I was just surprised. It's kind of cute actually. Do you still want to keep going?"

Regina licked her lips and paused for a moment before she said, "Yes."

"It would be my honor," Emma said and rubbed a hand up and down Regina's outer thigh. "What do you need?"

When she'd agreed to Operation Mongoose, she hadn't realized the extent of what she would do to get Regina her happy ending. Over the course of several months, she hadn't realized that just by being there for the brunette she was _giving_ her a happy ending. By the end of that night, both women sated after hours of love making, Emma was sure of it. She was in. For better or for worse. Until death would they part.


End file.
